How did I miss this from a couple of months ago?
So awesome. I don't know if Macron could ever replace Justin Trudeau as my favorite world leader, but he's a damn close second. And Trudeau's age gap with his wife is a very traditional three years older.
But even if Macron was not a self-declared feminist it would be hard to resist his love story with his wife, whom he has been with for twenty-two years now (at least) and married for ten years. He had this response to controversy over his marital age gap:
"If I was 20 years older than my wife, nobody would think for a single second that we couldn’t be legitimately together," he told Le Parisien. "It's because she is 20 years older than me that a lot of people say, 'this relationship can't be tenable, it can't be possible.'"The great thing about Macron is not only does he love his wife, he doesn't give a damn who doesn't like it. He also responded to gossip that he was really gay:
Macron also addressed rumours that he had been in a relationship with Mathieu Gallet, the chief executive of the Institut national de l'audiovisuel, saying that the speculation highlights the "rampant homophobia" in society as those accusing him of being gay are doing so as if it were a "hidden illness."
He also joked about it onstage, saying that if anybody saw him hanging around with Gallet, it was because his hologram ran away - this was a reference to another presidential candidate who had used hologram technology for an appearance.
Macron is just an all-around cool guy. I had heard that Macron had been hit with an egg during the French presidential election, John Oliver covered it on his show as well as the age-difference.
But the documentary Emmanuel Macron : Les Coulisses d'une Victoire, which is now on Netflix and called in English Emmanuel Macron Behind the Rise, showed Macron's response. Right after being hit he said something like "well it's just a little egg, no big deal" and even better, later on the documentary shows him looking at a recording of the egging on a cellphone and he's giggling over it.
He makes funny remarks elsewhere in the film, he has a great sense of humor. Also he appears to have put together a really good campaign team.
And the documentary makes clear that the Macrons are a very close couple in spite of the age gap. The same age gap as the Trumps, except with the genders reversed. And we see how bad that marriage is.
Here is the Macron movie trailer. In the trailer at 0:15 he can be seen having makeup applied prior to a speech and outside supporters of the Nazi Marine Le Pen are screaming and Macron jokes that what they're saying is "Macron for President." This article in The Local ("France's news in English") gives an excellent overview of the film.
And the documentary makes clear that the Macrons are a very close couple in spite of the age gap. The same age gap as the Trumps, except with the genders reversed. And we see how bad that marriage is.
Here is the Macron movie trailer. In the trailer at 0:15 he can be seen having makeup applied prior to a speech and outside supporters of the Nazi Marine Le Pen are screaming and Macron jokes that what they're saying is "Macron for President." This article in The Local ("France's news in English") gives an excellent overview of the film.